Gaining Muscle and Losing Fat (2015)

Status
Not open for further replies.
Baron said:
That's correct. And with many lifts, I would argue that working out with dumbbells is definitely harder than a barbell for sure. Try doing the same weight you would normally do on the bench press with dumbbells instead. Whole different ballgame.
More...
You adding a heavy barbell compound at this stage would be an interesting experiment.
Personally, i would love to see what heavy cleans would do to your delts and traps. (not that they are lacking)

ps what do you do for everything below the waist with dumbbells???
 
Last edited:
destriero said:
USA team lifters are competing purely on numbers. It simply doesn't matter how they look as long as they make weight in the lower classes and achieve the lifts. Elite Crossfitters have that physique due to being as light as possible for a given level of strength. It has zero-utility to be the size of Klokov in the Crossfit Games, as he would come in last in all of the metcon stuff. He would get 1st in the 1RM competition, but may not even place in the high-rep Oly CF routines.

Elite Crossfitters are basically lean Olympic lifters. The only contrast would be all of the metcon/cardio (thrusters, high-rep Oly, swimming). The only significant contrast is that it's basically a low-rep Oly program (Team USA) vs. a high-rep Oly program (elite CF).

Rich Froning has stated he does ZERO "non-compound" lifts. The same can be said for any of the elite at the Games; Smith, Fraser, etc. Same on the women's side.

Camille Leblanc Bazinet (last year's champ) made the Canadian Oly team. Rich Froning's oly max would have qualified him for the US team for every year that he won the Games. Same for Ben Smith, the Canadian ("fear the beard" guy).

Baron is proof that isolation can work to get ripped and strong, but he'll probably admit that it's mostly diet. Lifting heavy shit makes you strong. Dieting makes you cut.

Crossfit is not my bag as they simply train too much and it's abstract to me (not efficient as a lifestyle), but the results are nothing short of amazing. Stacie Tovar isn't even top-ten and she's an animal. Look at the physique that is possible with diet and compounds (only).

Most of the top-ten competitors have outstanding physiques and elite totals.
More...
pls share a pic when you're finished bulking
 
Zero isolation lifts and very competitive Oly totals that are near-record level (to National team numbers):

froning.jpg
 
jimmiebarton said:
You adding a heavy barbell compound at this stage would be an interesting experiment.
Personally, i would love to see what heavy cleans would do to your delts and traps. (not that they are lacking)

ps what do you do for everything below the waist with dumbbells???
More...


Penis curls.
 
jimmiebarton said:
ps what do you do for everything below the waist with dumbbells???
More...
Ass-to-floor dumbbell squats. I like doing those because when you really go down low for a rep, you realize that you just don't need massive weight. Not only do you get a great leg workout, but your forearms, shoulders and traps are all working full steam just to hold the dumbbells throughout the exercise. And another thing I noticed is that because the dumbbells are being held on each side of you, you can't really spread your legs out wide like you would in a traditional squat with a barbell because the dumbbells will hit your legs on the way down. So yo have to keep your feet about a foot apart and I've noticed that this narrow stance dramatically decreases the amount of weight that I can squat. I don't know enough about the human body to understand where all the power comes from when your stance is wide. All I know is that a lot of that power is pretty much gone with a narrow stance. So to me dumbbell squats are just harder version of barbell squats, which means less weight is required, which also minimizes the chance for injury.

I also do stiff-legged deadlifts, lunges, bench step-ups, and even pistol squats on occasion. And keep in mind that I have an Inspire multi-station gym, which allows me to do leg extensions and leg presses, but I find both of those exercises to be inferior compared to dumbbell squats.
 
destriero said:
Zero isolation lifts and very competitive Oly totals that are near-record level (to National team numbers):

froning.jpg
More...

The only thing I would add as an asterisk to this picture is that Rich works out for a living, so one would expect him to look damn good.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top